Olympic Torch

Thousands cheered the Olympic torch in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the last stop on the international leg of the flame's relay. The torch now will be taken to the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macao and then the mainland, including restive Tibet and the summit of Mt. Everest, and finally to the Games themselves in Beijing in August. Vietnam had assured its communist ally and giant northern neighbor that it would not allow demonstrators to disrupt the event, but several demonstrators were detained earlier in Hanoi, the capital.

SOCHI, Russia - Half a mile away, thousands of people waved flags, held balloons and cheered Thursday as the Olympic torch passed by. Nina Toromonyan stood in the gray rubble that remains of her home and cried. She recalled her elation in 2007 when her city was selected to host this year's Olympic Winter Games. She imagined that wonderful things were coming. She didn't think that riot police would throw 13 family members out of their three-story home to make way for a new highway two miles away.

The lingering symbol of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games--the statues of two nude, headless athletes at the peristyle entrance of the Coliseum--will remain undraped during the start of the Olympic torch relay Saturday morning.

Another mishap from the long, adventurous Sochi Olympic torch relay has made its way onto the Internet. The latest glitch reportedly occurred on Wednesday when former bobsledder Pyotr Makarchuk momentarily set himself on fire while carrying the flame through the Siberian city of Abakan. Video of the nighttime incident was posted on YouTube by lifenews.ru. As Makarchuk slowly jogged through a cheering crowd, it appears that some of the torch's fuel dripped onto his left arm and shoulder.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans on Wednesday unveiled the route for the Olympic torch relay, which will start at the Los Angeles Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. The torch will arrive in Los Angeles from Greece on April 27 and be lighted at the Coliseum, "where it last touched American soil," said David Emanuel of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

The Olympic torch began its seven-day trek around London on Saturday under sunny skies, an unusual twist after weeks of unseasonably cold temperatures and wet weather. The torch arrived at the Tower of London along the River Thames on Friday night aboard a Royal Marine helicopter. The flame spent the night inside the Jewel House at the tower, an 11th century landmark, before a tour that took it from the recently restored 140-year-old Cutty Sark ship to London's newest mall. Among the luminaries on hand to help begin the tour of the Summer Olympics host city were Nadia Comaneci, the legendary Romanian gymnast who won nine medals in the 1976 and 1980 Summer Games, and basketball player John Amaechi.

Forget the Gloria Estefan theme and the rest of the music recorded for the Atlanta games. The song that could be the Olympic gold medal winner is Iggy & the Stooges' 1973 proto-punk scorcher "Search and Destroy." That's the one featured in the Nike commercials that began airing recently--60 seconds of quick-cut athletic intensity, powered by Iggy Pop's snarl and the Stooges' rock fury.

The Olympic torch relay for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games has begun a long, strange side trip. While the official relay continues through Russia, a version of the torch is traveling by nuclear-powered icebreaker to the North Pole. It is expected to arrive at the top of the world -- where it will be used to light a cauldron -- in late October. “I believe it is extremely symbolic to light the Olympic torch there, since Olympic values have remained unchanged for centuries,” Arthur Chilingarov, a Russian polar explorer, told the RIA Novosti news service.

Now that Alex Ovechkin has been named the first official torch bearer for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he can look forward to a whirlwind trip. And a lot of frequent-flier miles. The Washington Capitals captain was selected by Russian officials to take part in a ceremony lighting the flame at the Temple of Hera in Greece on Sunday. "I'm extremely humbled and honored to be the first Russian to carry the Olympic torch," he told reporters. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something I will never forget.

Live streaming video by Ustream The Olympic torch has arrived in outer space, and you can watch two cosmonauts take it out on a spacewalk, right here. If you live on the West Coast, you are going to have to wake up early to enjoy the show. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos will be venturing out of the International Space Station with the torch in hand at 6:30 a.m. PST. ISS: International Space Station crews and images from space There will be a brief photo opp, and then they will return the torch to the ISS. Next they will take care of items such as relocating a foot restraint for use on future spacewalks and getting the ISS ready for a new high-resolution camera system.

On the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's death, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday reminisced about his encounter with what he described as a charismatic, confident politician. "I had the opportunity to meet John Kennedy and I've never met a politician since then that had an aura and charisma, a presence, a confidence that unique," Brown said in a statement. "To snuff out such a young, vibrant, unique life like that, it left a mark. " Brown on Friday also ordered that state flags be flown at half-staff.

November 9, 2013 | By Sergei L. Loiko, This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.

MOSCOW - The Russian relay ahead of the Olympic Games reached its peak Saturday, both figuratively and literally, as two Russian cosmonauts took the Olympic torch on a walk outside the International Space Station about 186 miles above Earth. The torch, tied to the station by two ropes for security, was passed from one cosmonaut to another for an hour as they changed positions in search of a better vantage point for a photo op. Their seven colleagues - three Americans, two Russians, an Italian and a Japanese - watched from the station, giving them advice and directions by radio.

Live streaming video by Ustream The Olympic torch has arrived in outer space, and you can watch two cosmonauts take it out on a spacewalk, right here. If you live on the West Coast, you are going to have to wake up early to enjoy the show. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos will be venturing out of the International Space Station with the torch in hand at 6:30 a.m. PST. ISS: International Space Station crews and images from space There will be a brief photo opp, and then they will return the torch to the ISS. Next they will take care of items such as relocating a foot restraint for use on future spacewalks and getting the ISS ready for a new high-resolution camera system.

By the time that the Olympic caldron is lighted for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the torch relaying the symbolic flame of the competition will have been to the top of Europe's highest mountain, plunged to the depths of the world's deepest lake, reached the North Pole on an icebreaker and accompanied cosmonauts on a spacewalk. In Olympic host nations' undeclared competition for showcasing the torch as it makes its way to the competition venue, the Russian organizers of the Games that open in three months have embarked on an ambitious itinerary.

The torch relay for the 2014 Sochi Olympics is scheduled to continue Thursday with an unlit torch riding into space aboard a Soyuz rocket. The torch will be delivered to the International Space Station, where cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky plan to carry it on a spacewalk, organizers said. An American astronaut, Richard Mastracchio, will also be part of the mission. Back on Earth, Russia's Olympic chief contended that despite problems organizers have faced, Sochi has delivered on its promise to build a modern, compact site for the Games.

The torch relay for the upcoming 2014 Sochi Olympics has hit another bump in its long and winding road to the opening ceremonies. Video from the small city of Kostroma, near Moscow, shows the torch erupting suddenly, flames shooting several feet into the air. Dmitry Chernyshenko, the head of the Sochi organizing committee, acknowledged there was a "strong flame" but denied initial media reports that a 13-year-old girl was burned in the incident....

November 9, 2013 | By Sergei L. Loiko, This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.

MOSCOW - The Russian relay ahead of the Olympic Games reached its peak Saturday, both figuratively and literally, as two Russian cosmonauts took the Olympic torch on a walk outside the International Space Station about 186 miles above Earth. The torch, tied to the station by two ropes for security, was passed from one cosmonaut to another for an hour as they changed positions in search of a better vantage point for a photo op. Their seven colleagues - three Americans, two Russians, an Italian and a Japanese - watched from the station, giving them advice and directions by radio.

We're carrying our own Olympic torch here at the Ministry: our burning flame for the royal-and-celebrity watch we're kicking off on the eve of the London Games. Energized by Friday's opening ceremonies, world athletes will compete for gold medals while their famous admirers hole up in the glamorous bones of London Town, but make no mistake: This is royals country. So what better way to drum up excitement than trotting out Great Britain's star couple: William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Olympic torch relay for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games has begun a long, strange side trip. While the official relay continues through Russia, a version of the torch is traveling by nuclear-powered icebreaker to the North Pole. It is expected to arrive at the top of the world -- where it will be used to light a cauldron -- in late October. “I believe it is extremely symbolic to light the Olympic torch there, since Olympic values have remained unchanged for centuries,” Arthur Chilingarov, a Russian polar explorer, told the RIA Novosti news service.

Now that Alex Ovechkin has been named the first official torch bearer for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he can look forward to a whirlwind trip. And a lot of frequent-flier miles. The Washington Capitals captain was selected by Russian officials to take part in a ceremony lighting the flame at the Temple of Hera in Greece on Sunday. "I'm extremely humbled and honored to be the first Russian to carry the Olympic torch," he told reporters. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something I will never forget.